Jail time & air time: Marwan Habib guilty of sexual assault in Florida
After countless testimonies from victims - in both Lebanon and the United States - sex offender Marwan Habib is dragged to court.
In 2019, with the supervision of Karim Majbour - the lawyer who oversaw the case - tens of women in Lebanon picked up the courage to share their testimonies in November that year.
Marwan Habib, a personal trainer, and athlete faced many accusations on social media, which he repeatedly gaslit on a Lebanese TV station as he was being interviewed about the allegations of sexual assault.
When asked about the authenticity of the womens' testimonies, Habib contended that "these women are simply jealous of his success," and that the case is an attempt at slander.
With multiple lawsuits at hand, many assault survivors have tried to take Habib to court only to be met with repeated rejection, doubt and negligence by the Lebanese judicial system and Lebanese government, which has been suffering of corruption for decades.
All those testimonies could not bring justice at the time. However, today, Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez does some justice for the victims.
He’s accused of coaxing a hotel employee into giving him a room key before allegedly committing burglary, assault and battery on a tourist from Kansas City in her Ocean Dr. hotel room, and he has a history. @wsvn #Exclusive story: pic.twitter.com/bCqFU6InHa
— Sheldon Fox-7 News (@fox_sheldon) January 8, 2022
Marwan Habib today faces charges of sexual assault as he broke into a victim's hotel room and assaulted her on November 7, 2021. The aggressor was able to manipulate his voice, convincing hotel staff to give him a key via a phone call.
The hotel staff said, “the defendant had her information and even had a woman on the phone pretending to be her, so he was given a key thinking it was her granting access.”
The victim had met Habib earlier that evening, only to witness her second encounter with him upon hearing the slam of her hotel door where Habib had broken in and entered in early November 7, 2021.
The police report said, “While sleeping in her hotel room the victim stated she was awakened by the sound of a door slamming in the morning hours of Nov. 7, 2021. Then the victim saw the defendant at the foot of her bed in which he jumped on top of her and began to kiss her and touch her."
On Friday, Habib stood in the wake of Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez in Florida, where she charged him with burglary, assault, and battery, according to WSVN 7News. Habib himself admitted to his crimes, leading to the charges.